chapter 25 - alive

2.5K 49 3
                                    

- - - - RILEY - - - - to hell & back - maren morris

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

- - - - RILEY - - - -
to hell & back - maren morris

Oh my God.

As soon as I woke up this morning, all of last night's memories came flooding back to me.

The amazing dinner with Mason's mom. How her hug felt like my own mother's. The way Mason kept peeking at me through the corner of his eye. How he always found a way to be touching me throughout dinner. How I kissed him. And the way his lips tasted and molded to mine as he kissed me back.

Everything about last night felt surreal.

All day yesterday, I was paranoid that Mason's mother would hate me. Maybe it's just the PTSD from everything I went through with Liam's mom, but I was terrified.

I should have known, though, that the woman who single-handedly raised Mason Harrison would be great. I mean, look at her freakin' son!

Theresa - as she insisted I call her - was everything Liam's mom wasn't. She was warm, sweet, and definitely the "cool" mom. She poured me glass after glass of wine and had me laughing all night.

To put it simply, I love her.

Sighing, I pulled the blanket up over my shoulders and turned onto my side.

Mason was still sleeping next to me, his brown hair sticking up in all directions as he lay against his pillow. His lips were slightly parted, and with each breath he took, a soft sigh left them. The freckles dotting his cheeks were also so evident from his time outside this summer, and I had to stop myself from reaching out and tracing their path.

This guy is incredible. Incredibly hot, but also an incredibly nice person.

Last night, Mason took everything at my pace. He spent what felt like hours kissing up and down my face and neck but went no farther than the neckline of my dress. And even though all we did was make out, I didn't feel rushed or guilty. There was no pressure coming from Mason to have sex, and I am so insanely grateful for that.

Refocusing my gaze on Mason, I was met with his dark green eyes staring back at me.

"Why are you staring at me?" His voice was even deeper than normal, and there was a certain croak to it that I'd never heard before.

"I'm not."

"Riley..." Mason deadpanned.

"Just taking it all in."

Gently smiling, Mason stretched his arms out and pulled me into his chest. My head rested directly over his heart, and the steady thump thump was almost enough to lull me back to sleep.

Tilting my head up to get a better look at Mason, I put my hand on the side of his face. The barely there stubble he was growing pricked the inside of my palm, but I couldn't care less.

Since It's Gone QuietWhere stories live. Discover now